Trip Report: BWCA 2014
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Pre-dawn at Sawbill Landing
After moving back to the midwest from Washington State, I felt like I was pretty much the only person in Minnesota that hadn't visited the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Ok, thats an exaggeration, but, I have heard so many great things about the BWCA, I knew I had to get there ASAP, especially with a baby on the way! So, when a friend of mine was organizing a short trip, I was extremely excited!
This trip report details the adventure that four of us had in the BWCA Wilderness. This image is pre-dawn on the edge of Sawbill lake where we'd be launching our canoes.
With our canoes packed, we headed to Cherokee Lake, 5 portages of varying length from Sawbill Lake.
After a few hours of paddling, we were lucky enough to scoop up one of the best camp sites on the lake, which included a beautiful rock slab to hand out on.
We set up camp and took a quick nap, then set out to do some exploring and fishing in the canoes.
Throughout the lakes of the BWCA there are tiny islands sitting just above the water line. I thought it would be fun to hop off the canoe and wander around one of them.
We encountered many pairs of loons throughout the lakes we explored. These striking birds are so fun to photograph. As they dive under the water to hunt for fish you never know where they will pop back up, and if you're lucky they'll come up near your canoe for a closeup.
As the golden hour began and the sun started dip toward the horizon, light started to play off the cobwebs and moss growing on the trees.
After a full day of exploring on our first day in the BWCA, we paddled back to camp to cook dinner.
As the sun set, we ate an excellent camp dinner and planned the day ahead.
Altocumulus
While clouds to the west blocked the sunset, these Altocumulus Clouds stretched overhead making a beautiful pattern in the sky.
Our camp had a great fire pit area with a fantastic view.
It doesn't get much better than a beautiful night in the North Woods!
The next morning, we work up to rain, which only lasted a few hours. Luckily the rain cleared and we were able to go on with our day. Patrick got his fly rod out and give Travis and I some lessons. If I had time for another hobby, it could definitely be fly fishing!!
After a little casting practice and some breakfast, we headed out to explore the lakes around Cherokee Lake in search of Lake Trout.
Nimbus
As the clouds cleared, a halo, or nimbus, formed around the sun.
Portage
This is a glimpse of an average portage the we encountered. Portage trails were wet, rocky, and muddy. Luckily, the longest portage that we did was 180 rods. Portages are measured in rods; 1 rod is about the length of a canoe, and there are 320 rods in a mile.
This beautiful run of rapids separated Gordon Lake from the Long Island River.
Tranquil
In the late afternoon, the wind stopped and the sky was filled with puffy clouds. This was the beginning of an absolutely tranquil end of the day.
Soon we made our way into Frost Lake where we heard the lake trout were bitting. Frost lake was a beautiful lake with a sand beach and some great camp spots. I'd definitely come back to this lake for a night or two.
Floating Rock
Glacial erratics (displaced boulders transported and deposited by glaciers) are scattered throughout the lakes of the BWCA and this rock was the most striking one we cam across.
Dinner! Finally, after next to no bites, the trip to Frost Lake and Patrick and Alex started hauling in lake trout!!
After reeling in 5 lake trout in 45 minutes, we decided to head back to camp and fry up some fish!
Sunset on the Precambrian
Part of the Duluth Complex rock series in northeast Minnesota, this massive chunk of billion year old anorthosite survives another day of weathering in the boundary waters.
Cooking a dinner of food that was caught that day we extremely satisfying. A perfect way to end the day.
Boundary Lights
As we were waiting for the starts come out after dinner, we were treated to an amazing show of the northern lights, which caught me totally by surprise! I hadn't see the northern lights for over 5 years and I forgot how awesome they are to watch. This was truly the icing on the cake!
This shot is from the opposite direction of the shot above. We were treated to both a northern lights show and a full moon on the same night. It doesn't get much better!
A pic of the ruff and tumble crew just before heading back to Sawbill Landing. This was a great crew and I had a ton of fun. Can't wait to get back to the BWCA Wilderness!!
